If you know me well, or even met me just a few times, one thing you will quickly know about me is that I’m a jewelry junkie.🤷‍♀️ My interest for jewelry, especially earrings started quite young. And as opposed to the general idea, my mom didn’t fancy them too much. I wonder where I picked up the interest🤔. As far as I remember it started when I was 9 or 10 years old. I’d collect simple pairs of earring even though I wasn’t allowed to wear them without an occasion.

Back in India, while I was growing up , schools prohibited fancy jewelry, nail polish and mehendi. So to put it simply, I hardly wore these pieces that I loved to collect until I was almost 15. I had a pair of gold earrings (short and simple) that I wore all the time. Bangles were my second favorite pieces of accessories. I had a huge shoe box full of them and by the time I turned 18, I had 6 shoe boxes full of bangles!!

The earrings craze never sort of stopped and I still collect them and now I wear them too. A lot! Some of the earrings in my collection are as old as 13-14 years and I still wear them. With proper care, they last a long time. Some of these earrings even have memories attached to them. I don’t think I can ever let go of some of these.😃

Today I want to share with you, 5 of the most versatile and voguish pairs of earrings that I own and you should too. In this post, I will stick to earrings that go with almost all kinds of indian wear. I will also share some basic tips on how to maintain and store your earrings. So lets get started!

Large Studs :

These are must-haves for many reasons. One of them is that they go with a variety of hairstyles, including the famous mom bun! They’re one of most versatile type of earrings that you can pair with salwar kameez or a chudidar to a Saree or a Long gown dress/ Anarkali. If you are a not a stud person, you should explore this option starting small with maybe a size down in the stone or stud. Also when you wear studs with a colored stone as opposed to something that is a solid color like gold or silver, it makes less of a statement and blends with most of the outfits making it easy for a first timer to carry them.

Hand-painted Earrings : 

Handpainted earrings look rather simple but are compliment your outfits like no other. They go with mostly plain/ solid colors , especially bright of festive colors. I love this black and green pair of earrings that I got as a present a few years back. They go so well with kurthis and collar neck tunic dresses as well.

 

Chandbali earrings :

Chandbali earrings have been in and out of fashion so many times and in the recent past , they’ve been worn by so many bollywood actresses on screen and off. I love the wide variety of designs these earrings come in. This pair of chandbalis was a very recent buy and I can’t wait to wear them. Chandbalis can be worn with the most traditional outfits to simple anarkali kurthis. They pair well with sarees and a low bun if you’re attending a wedding. Also this depends on the size of the earrings. If they have motis/pearls like mine here, they will look lovely when paired with a simple chikankari chudidar or a full zari pattu saree. I love their adaptability to all kinds of indian outfits.

Silver Jhumkis / Silver Earrings :

These are my most favorite of the lot. If you own a pair of good looking, heavy silver earrings, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve had This pair of earrings for over a decade and they never , ever went out of style. Ever!
My favorite way to pair them is with a cotton plain kurthi and jeans/patiala/legging/plazzos/ ankle length wide legged pants… basically any kind of bottom. These earrings compliment the modern of the modern saree looks, oldest of the oldest hand loom designs and they also work well with Indo-western outfits. Silver jhumkis go with a wide variety of Indian wear but the versatility increases when you own a pair of silver earrings that are flat rather than jhumki style. They can be paired with western outfits too. But sticking to the Indian theme in this post, these jhumkis are my staple and they are always my first option for a pure-silk saree/ cotton pastel colored dress or kurthi and many more in my wardrobe. I love wearing some oxidized silver bangles to match with the earrings too.

Afghan Earrings :

These were a pretty recent discovery. A little over an year ago, I ordered these online from India as an impulsive buy and I had no idea the size would be larger than I expected. And for the price, the quality was great but , pregnant at the time and then a baby later, these earrings never stood out as a good/rather comfortable option. But a few weeks back, I bought a kurthi that had all the same colors on it and I thought I should try them out. And they looked fab. In the first picture above, you can see how these earrings are sized. Other than this, these earrings go well with looks like palazzo and short top, plain crape sarees in one of the colors/white (always a good choice) , long anarkali kurthi dresses. These are part of my top 5 for one reason and that is, these earrings can be worn with lot of hairstyles. These can be go to earrings for a lot of occasions and even with a no-makeup/ minimal make-up look, these earrings will rock the show.

So these are the top 5 pairs of earrings that compliment all your Indian wear.

Maintenance

Collecting these lovely pieces is one thing. Maintaining the shine and color is another. With most earrings, my personal experience taught me that its always good to keep them all separately packed in plastic covers to prevent from rubbing off of each other. I have earrings from 2004-5 that still look gorgeous because of this one maintenance hack. To be honest, I don’t clean my silver jewelry often as I like them looking a little old and faded, giving them a rustic look that I like to go for. 

To clean silver jewelry , brushing them with Colgate toothpaste works well.
Another tip for silver jewelry :  Boil water, baking soda and a piece of aluminium foil and dip your silver jewelry in it for 30 to 40 seconds.

I use wooden boxes for storage. Last year when my mom visited Jammu , she  brought back  a bunch of Kashmiri hand painted wooden boxes and I love to store my jewelry in them now. They look so beautiful and unique and are so colorful ! Most of all, the best way to really maintain your earrings is the keep wearing them, pairing them with your gorgeous outfits and rocking them.

So thats all for now folks! Keep watching this space for more posts. If you have some thing in mind, a post you would like from me , DM me on my Instagram handle @ramyakirtana.